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Amanda Koonlaba

Amanda Koonlaba, Ed. S. is an educator and educational consultant with over 12 years of experience teaching both visual art and regular education. Her career has been driven by the power of the arts to reach all learners. She is a published author and frequent speaker/presenter at education conferences. Amanda was named the Elementary Art Teacher of the Year for the state of Mississippi in 2016 and received the Arts Integration Service Award from the Mississippi Whole Schools Initiative (Mississippi Arts Commission) in 2015. She holds an Elementary and Middle Childhood Art certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. As a coach for The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM, Amanda is on a mission to ensure every student in America has access to a high-quality arts-based education. She blogs at partyintheartroom.com.

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making room for better days
Resources

The Better Days Project

Mekhi Hill of The Better Days Project shares how to weave mental wellness into arts and STEAM lessons and help students find their voice.

Strategies

Direct and Defend

Direct and Defend asks students use blocking to build a visible argument about a story's arc, shape, and narrative momentum.

Strategies

Respond in Sequence

Respond in Sequence moves students from basic lists to movement-based timelines.

Strategies

Evaluate the Frame

Evaluate the Frame shows students that photography isn't neutral.

Strategies

Sequence and Storyboard

In Sequence and Storyboard, students plan out ideas visually, making narrative structure visible before writing their first word.

Strategies

Construct and Compare

Construct and Compare is a strategy showing how medium shapes a message.

Strategies

Freeze and Flow

Freeze and Flow keeps everything that makes freeze dance work and replaces the one thing that makes it purely a game: the randomness.

Strategies

Summarize, Synthesize, and Score

Summarize, Synthesize, and Score uses pitch, pace, and texture to convert students' understanding into an intentional score.

Strategies

Annotate the Image

Annotate the Image teaches students visual literacy.

Strategies

Micro-Doc

Micro-Doc asks students to create a 15-second, narration-free documentary with intentional editorial choices that have to do the work.

Strategies

Identity Palette

Identity Palette has students choose colors for aspects of who they are, then find where their palette overlaps with someone else's.

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